This Black Stain On Mars Could Be Volcanic Leftovers

byElizabeth HowellonSeptember 6, 2013

The dark material in Becquerel crater on Mars might have come from a volcanic eruption. Credit: ESA/DLR/FU Berlin (G. Neukum)

At first glance, it looks like somebody dropped a huge paint can on Mars, spilling black stuff all over Becquerel crater. That dark material, however, is likely blown from another location on the Red Planet. It could even be volcanic eruption remnants, the European Space Agency says.

A set of stunning new images of the spot in the Arabia Terra region — which straddles the so-called “transition zone” between the north and south regions of the planet — reveal a combination of probable effects from wind, water and perhaps even the tilt of the axis of Mars. These pictures came courtesy of ESA’s Mars Express, which is orbiting the planet.

The crater — named after French physicist Antoine Henri Becquerel, a co-discoverer of radioactivity — is 103 miles (167 kilometers) in diameter and sinks 2.2 miles (3.5 km) below the rest of the area. This depression might have held water at some point.

“The mound rises about 1 km [0.62 miles] above the crater floor and comprises hundreds of layers of light-toned sediments, each just a few metres thick, made of sulphate-bearing rocks,” ESA stated. “On Earth, sulphates are most often formed via the evaporation of water, so the presence of these minerals in Becquerel crater suggests that water may once have pooled here in a vast crater lake, before evaporating away.”

This view of Becquerel Crater on Mars shows the effects of wind on the Red Planet. Credit: ESA/DLR/FU Berlin (G. Neukum)

The mystery of Mars’ missing water is one that is still puzzling scientists — NASA’s Spirit, Curiosity and Opportunity rovers all found rocks that likely formed in the presence of water, and several spacecraft have spotted features that appear to be similar to riverbeds or perhaps even oceans.

“One popular theory is that large changes in the tilt of the rotational axis of Mars leads to significant changes in its climate, reflected in the thickness and repeating patterns found in the layers of sediment,” ESA added. “A change in the environmental conditions would affect the way in which the sediments were initially deposited, as well as their subsequent resistance to erosion.”

Speaking of sediments, the image above shows the dark material extending far beyond the crater walls, a sign of powerful winds on the Red Planet. Now who’s tempted to go down there with a shovel to see what’s underneath?

Elizabeth Howell is the senior writer at Universe Today. She also works for Space.com, Space Exploration Network, the NASA Lunar Science Institute, NASA Astrobiology Magazine and LiveScience, among others. Career highlights include watching three shuttle launches, and going on a two-week simulated Mars expedition in rural Utah. You can follow her on Twitter @howellspace or contact her at her website.

Power supply is one thing. Mechanical reliability and being able to traverse the enormously varied terrain along the way are different matters altogether.
Spirit lasted a lot longer than the minimum 90 days, but broke down eventually – it already had two drive wheels out of action before it got stuck in soft dust. Opportunity is still working, but now showing signs of age.
Call up a map of Mars – the MOLA map would do – and see what sort of ground that Curiosity would have to traverse between Gale and Becquerel.

As bernard mentions… power is not a problem. Global dust storms burying Curiosity a more likely demise? Oppy’s example fills me with hope. Of coors, were I a mission manager, I’d seriously think about leaving for Becquerel crater today! I LIKE what I’m seeing there! HO!

There has been (unofficial) speculation that the underground around this volcanic area could produce just enough subsurface heat to sustain something akin to a lichen on the surface. I know it is a reach but it is an interesting theory.

It is obviously the result of an electrical plasma discharge. If anyone wants to actually understand how features like this are formed, research electric plasma cosmology… Or you can stick to ‘reaching’ for explanations using established modern theories that continously fail to predict or adequately explain phenomena.

Scattered point? On either side, near Earth, two sibling worlds—uninhabitable—turn deathly still. Tantalizing glimpse, habitability potential may once have held! Silent wastelands, now, haunted by unrealized past: Global homes, could have been, but for conditions that did not last. Why?

Between them—teeming with all manner of living motion: “The Blue Planet”—man’s beautiful Home! Yet, World itself, by unmarked by catastrophe alone. Fallen to wreckage, for ages to come, not unsalvaged. Why?